Queen Fish
Description Queen Fish (sometimes shortened to Queen) are the player's most important fish. Each player can only have one queen fish at a time. When the player joins a server, they will start with a queen, which the player must move around to eat plankton and grow a school. Being the most important fish of the player's school, the queen is absolutely necessary for survival and must be defended from rival schools and animals. Letting the queen die immediately results in a game over for the player. A queen fish's appearance is most likely derived off of a real-life anglerfish, as it possesses an elliptical-shaped body and a luminescent bulb hanging off of an appendage on the top of its head. Behavior Upon spawning when the player joins a server, the queen is the only animal that the player starts off with. The queen will always face the player's cursor, and will follow it if the player moves it away from the queen. The player can change the queen's swimming speed by changing the distance between the queen and the cursor (the farther away the cursor is placed, the faster the queen will swim). The player must lead the queen to the numerous plankton that populate the ocean; should the queen come in close proximity to a particle of plankton, the queen will automatically move to the plankton and eat it. Growing a School Once the queen has eaten eight plankton, it will "give birth" or spawn a fish or, rarely, a mutated fish. The new fish will follow the queen closely behind, and may swim faster or slower to match the queen's speed. The player can activate "attack" mode by holding down the LMB or W key; when attack mode is active, the queen will cease movement and the queen's bulb will glow brightly; the fish will instead follow the player's cursor and attack any nearby rival animals. Once attack mode deactivates, the fish will once more return to the queen, and the player can move the queen around again. The player can also activate "merge" mode by holding down the RMB or space bar; when active, the fish will attempt to merge with another fish of its like species, level, and owner. The queen will also stop moving and its bulb will glow brighter when merge mode is active. Damage If the queen is injured from a rival fish or animal, visible holes will appear in the queen's flesh. The skeleton of the queen will reveal itself through the holes, should more damage be taken; the queen's empty skeleton will be the last thing remaining before the queen dies. As the queen's health deteriorates, the water will change to a reddish hue, signifying that the queen is losing blood. The queen will heal very slowly over time by itself, but the process can be sped up by eating plankton. Note that the queen will not spawn any new fish as it is healing. If the queen dies, the player receives an instant game over showing the player's highest score, minion fish eaten, queen fish eaten, creatures lost, the number of plankton eaten, and the elapsed time on the server. All fish following the queen if the queen dies will become "rogue" - they will turn gray in color and roam around, allowing other players to own them without attacking.